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Drive shaft


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We've been having a great season with the boat. We spent the weekend with a group of friends at a private ski lake we had rented out. My daughter learned how to slalom ski and she loves it. She was already running the novice balls at 28mph and 15 off, and talking about the next ski she wants to demo.

On Monday after the boat ran flawlessly all weekend I noticed that there was a slight hesitation going into forward gear with a slight 'clunk'. It wasn't present in reverse. We took the boat out on the river yesterday and again noticed this very subtle change, but again was running just fine. At one point I needed to give some extra throttle while pulling a boarder and then started hearing a clicking sound and felt a small vibration. I thought there might be something caught under the boat so I went swimming and found nothing but that the prop seemed to have a little bit of play in it. We limped back to the dock at 6 mph and had the trailer brought down. When the trailer showed up I put the boat in gear and then heard an absolutely awful loud indescribable sound. Not a good sound. We got towed in, trailered, and then checked under the boat. The drive shaft in disconnected from the coupling as I can freely turn the shaft and pull it down away from the strut. I'm assuming that the shaft is broken, but I guess there could be some other problem. I had this shaft replaced last year about 100 hours ago.

When this happened last year most people had never heard of a drive shaft breaking. I wonder if anyone has had two break on them? I'm going to take the boat into the dealer and see about repairs. Hopefully my season is done for yet.

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We had a 67 CC and the shaft broke clean off at the flange twice for no apparent reason. Could never figure it out. It was aligned and there was no vibration. Just broke off two different times.

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my ski partner's supra had the shaft break for no apparent reason too. we were right at the course entrance gates, and as far as we can tell, did not hit anything. propellor and half the shaft sank to the bottom...

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I, too, have never seen a shaft physically break. I can see where it would separate at the plate where it is bolted to the transmission or v drive. A shaft is pretty darn strong, but I guess it can happen. I had run out of water on my previous boat (a Supra), and took off the rudder, tracking fins, bent the prop so it looked like a rose bud, broke the strut and bent the @#@# out of the shaft. Baumann Propeller service in Houston fixed the prop and straightened out the shaft and it ran fine. I asked them about the longevity of the shaft and they said that sometimes heating and spiining it to get it straght would weaken it, but I ran it for another 4 years with no problems.

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Last year the shaft was definitely broken up near the coupling. I was told by the place that made the new shaft that it does happen occasionally and usually due to either a defective shaft or to some misalignment of the engine setting up a vibration in the shaft that then causes the break. I wasn't feeling any vibration prior, and in fact several different people who own and drive Nautiques and Mastercrafts commented this past weekend on how smooth the boat was.

I dropped the boat off at the dealer today and am waiting to hear just what happened and what needs to be done to fix it. I left it with the head mechanic who is knowledgeable and a good guy. He has worked on my boat before and knows it well.

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I can't come up with a senario that would cause the shaft to BREAK after 100 hrs. If it was even close to aligned, fatigue should not happen for hundreds of hours, if ever. What could cause a 1 1/8" shaft to fail in torsion that didn't turn the boat upsidedown? I need help with this one. I know the keyway causes a stress concentration at the coupler, but I'm sure it is overdesigned for the torque that the prop could put on the shaft.

Does anyone know what kind of torque a prop, under normal operation, can create?

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Obski, sorry to hear about your boat being out of service. At least its happening while its raining and not 90* outside. If it looks like its going to be in the shop for a long time and the weather actually gets nice again I would be more then happy to give you a tow. :)

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Obski, sorry to hear about your boat being out of service. At least its happening while its raining and not 90* outside. If it looks like its going to be in the shop for a long time and the weather actually gets nice again I would be more then happy to give you a tow. :)

Hey thanks. We have another family living with us now and they own a Nautique which they keep moored right by ours on the river, so we can still get out - just not in our pretty Malibu.

I called the dealer and they haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but I'm still hoping to have it back by next weekend. We'll see.

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Obski, sorry to hear about your boat being out of service. At least its happening while its raining and not 90* outside. If it looks like its going to be in the shop for a long time and the weather actually gets nice again I would be more then happy to give you a tow. :)

Hey thanks. We have another family living with us now and they own a Nautique which they keep moored right by ours on the river, so we can still get out - just not in our pretty Malibu.

I called the dealer and they haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but I'm still hoping to have it back by next weekend. We'll see.

Hey ditto on the tow anytime as jetskipro550 offered. Drive lines can be like anything else. Good and bad as well as who is building them and or installing them. The u-joints should take up any miss alignment to a point so I would be more apt to say it was either a defect in material or workmanship and not installation as others suggested. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask for a ride anytime.

-John-

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They finally got around to taking a look at the boat and it is definitely a broken drive shaft again. It broke again up near the coupling. Any ideas why this would happen twice? No blows to any of the gear etc. One interesting note is that both times this has happened was after putting the boat in after trailering from a trip.

I haven't heard yet as to when the boat will be done. Last time it took a week or so to get a new shaft machined as there was not one in stock.

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One interesting note is that both times this has happened was after putting the boat in after trailering from a trip.

Shocking.gif Is it possible that the trailer bunks are flexing the bottom of the boat where the strut is mounted enough to actually fatigue the shaft? Dontknow.gif

When you trailer....do you put a bunch of "stuff" in the boat that would add to hull flex? Did you forget to drain any ballast?

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Did you say "the people who MADE the new shaft"....as in fabricating from scratch?? That might explain failure #2. Was shaft #2 OEM or did someone truly fabricate one for you or your dealer?

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One interesting note is that both times this has happened was after putting the boat in after trailering from a trip.

Shocking.gif Is it possible that the trailer bunks are flexing the bottom of the boat where the strut is mounted enough to actually fatigue the shaft? Dontknow.gif

When you trailer....do you put a bunch of "stuff" in the boat that would add to hull flex? Did you forget to drain any ballast?

No. We don't put anything extra in the boat.

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Did you say "the people who MADE the new shaft"....as in fabricating from scratch?? That might explain failure #2. Was shaft #2 OEM or did someone truly fabricate one for you or your dealer?

The shaft was manufactured by Elberts which is located right here in Newberg. They manufacture shafts and couplings.

I just heard from the dealer and they have the shaft in stock and should have the boat ready later today or by tomorrow, which means I should be able to have it for our trip to Billy Chinook this weekend. :)

They said that the engine mounts had come loose which then caused the shaft to fatigue. I know that we talked about alignment last year and was assured that all was good. I even called earlier this year when I felt a very slight vibration with hole shot. This went away when I went with the Acme 537 prop. There was no vibration otherwise and they and I felt that it was due to the load on the boat with initial hole shot. Has anyone ever had problems with the engine mounts coming loose?

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I picked up the boat today after they took it for a test run in the river and said all is well. I put the Acme 537 back on the shaft and will be taking the boat to Billy Chinook for the weekend tomorrow.

The plan will be to have the engine alignment rechecked in 2 to 3 months when we take it in for winterization and then again sometime next season so that this will hopefully not happen again. So we know that the engine mounts coming loose caused the engine alignment to be off and ultimately to cause the drive shaft to fatigue and break. What we don't know is what caused the engine mounts to come loose.

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I noticed a motor mount on my 03 response was loose a little while ago, its caused by the natural torque the motor puts on the mounts because it spins one direction. Just something to check every now and then.

Chris

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I noticed a motor mount on my 03 response was loose a little while ago, its caused by the natural torque the motor puts on the mounts because it spins one direction. Just something to check every now and then.

Chris

Probably a stupid question, but how does one go about checking the motor mounts to determine if they are coming loose?

I'm not a mechanic, but I am getting pretty good at breaking drive shafts, so this might be a useful skill for me to learn.

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I am glad that you figured out the probem and that you are back on the water! Have fun at Billy Chinook.

Thanks.

We had a great time at Billy Chinook this past weekend. The water was incredible and there were hardly any boats out to mess it up. The air temp was in the 70's and the water around 64 F, so we were wearing wetsuits.

The boat ran flawlessly with the new drive shaft. I can't say enough good things about Bridge City coming through and getting the boat ready for our trip. My nephew hadn't been wakeboarding since we taught him how back in June at Billy Chinook. He couldn't get enough of it. He must have had over an hour of boarding time over the weekend and really improved. More important was the huge smile on his face the entire time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

OBSki,

I was reading about your broken shaft(s), That is a real tough break! The only good thing - at least you did not loose the prop.

Listed in the Indmar Engine Manual: Daily Pre-start checks, Pg 15, Item 12: Verify engine mounts are tight

Now I know why!

I was looking at the Indmar mounts and it appears that there is a rubber bushing that could possibly be worn that is allowing your engine to vibrate and loosen your mounts.

Is mount #10 type of mount that is used on your boat?

http://marineengineparts.com/shopsite_sc/s...tml/page36.html

You could replace the bushings as cheep insurance ~$20

http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=53-6005

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